YWCA CANBERRA

Campbell Cottage Early Childhood Service

An early childhood service in the centre of the Campbell community

Campbell Cottage is a 66-place centre, nestled in the heart of the Campbell community. We provide education and care for children age six weeks to five years.

Our program is child-led and child-focused. We regularly involve the children in our decision making, based on each child’s interests, strengths, needs and development.

We reflect each child’s interests in our learning spaces and embed their learning goals within the layout of the learning environment.

When you use any of our YWCA Canberra children’s services programs, you help to support our community activities such as our housing programs, community development, youth engagement, and education to prevent domestic and family violence.

Fees

Our professional educators are committed to forming strong and meaningful bonds and interactions with each child and family at Campbell Cottage.

We are a team of leaders and learners who are passionate about early childhood education. Our strengths are our diverse backgrounds, knowledge, cultures and life experiences.

We acknowledge our role in children’s lives as positive role models and educators who can support and promote children’s learning.

Director: Sanny

photo of sannyOriginally from Thailand, Sanny came to Australia in 2007 and has lived in Canberra since 2010. That same year, she started working in the early childhood sector, having been impressed with how much early childhood education in Australia had benefited her daughter. Sanny has been at Campbell Cottage since September 2019 and she has built a great relationship with the Cottage’s children, families and educators.

A firm believer that every child deserves a good education from the beginning of their lives, Sanny knows that this education shapes how their life will be in the future. She sees children as curious, resilient, and capable learners, who experience wonder in exploration in learning.

To pursue her passion in education, Sanny is now studying Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Teaching).

Our separate but interconnecting outdoor gardens/play spaces offer many shaded areas for children to learn, play and explore. We have beautiful, large established trees in our yards, along with vegetable and herb gardens to help children learn about nature and sustainability.

We practice all-weather play, with children going outside whether there is sunshine or rain.

Our indoor learning spaces offer an organic, natural and warm feeling. Each child’s personality is reflected within the learning environment, and we work to foster a strong connection to the broader community.

We have four rooms:

  • Nursery one caters to children age six weeks to 12 months.
  • Nursery two caters to children age 12 to 24 months. We work with the children to help them transition to Nursery two when they are ready for change.
  • Toddler and preschool rooms for children age two to five years. These both back on to a large outdoor area that promotes physical and emotional development. This space is set up based on the children’s interests and includes focus areas like active play, nature play, sustainability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders learning.

The educational setup of our service provides opportunities for children to engage in structured mixed-aged learning experiences.

Mixed-age learning and play has significant benefits for children. It allows siblings to interact and gives children opportunities to play and learn from those outside their age group. Older children develop supporting and nurturing behaviours, while the younger ones learn social skills and language, and develop further confidence.

Our progressive routines allow the children to have more choice and flexibility, creating happy and calm environments to learn, grow and thrive.

Campbell Cottage is embedded in the heart of the Campbell community. We foster a strong sense of connection to the broader community, conducting regular visits to local parks, ANZAC Parade and other local areas. We have links with local communities such as Canberra Grammar preschool, Northside campus and Southern Cross Care aged care residents in Campbell.

An early childhood service in the centre of the Campbell community

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